How to Check AI App Permissions on Android and iPhone

Open your phone's privacy settings and review each AI app's access to the microphone, camera, photos, contacts and location. On Android, also check accessibility and notification access, which are far more powerful. On iPhone, check keyboards with Full Access and the App Privacy Report. Then review the settings inside each AI app.

Phones hold your messages, photos and location, and AI apps often ask for more of this as they add features. Most permissions are reasonable when you first grant them, and then they stay in place long after you stop using the feature. This takes about fifteen minutes. Menu names differ by phone maker and system version, so expect small differences.

What to look for

Before you start, here is a simple way to judge a permission: does this app need it for something you actually use?

• Microphone: needed for voice chat, and only while you use it.
• Camera: needed for visual questions.
• Photos: often only needed for pictures you choose.
• Contacts: rarely needed by a chatbot.
• Location: usually not needed, or only approximately.
• Accessibility (Android): lets an app read the screen and act for you. Grant this with great care.
• Notification access (Android): lets an app read your notifications, including message previews.
• Full keyboard access: a keyboard can see what you type.

How to check Android

Review permissions

Android's privacy dashboard shows which apps used sensitive permissions recently.

1. Open Settings, then Security & privacy or Privacy.
2. Open Privacy dashboard and look at the microphone, camera and location.
3. Tap a permission to see which apps used it, then tap an app to change its access.
4. Open Permission manager to see all apps by permission. The name and location can vary.
5. For each AI app, choose Only this time or Allow only while using the app where offered. Choose Don't allow for anything it does not need.

Check powerful access

These do not appear with the normal permissions, so check them separately.

1. Accessibility: go to Settings > Accessibility. Look for installed apps, then open any AI or assistant app and turn it off if you do not need it.
2. Notification access: search Settings for "notification access", often under Apps > Special app access. Turn it off for apps that do not need it.
3. Display over other apps: search Settings for this as well. An AI overlay may use it.
4. Default apps: check which app is your digital assistant and which is your keyboard, usually under Settings > Apps > Default apps or a similar page.

Review Gemini

Google's help pages explain these options.

1. In the Gemini app, open your profile or menu, then open Gemini Apps Activity. Keep Activity is on by default if you are 18 or over.
2. Turn it off if you prefer. Chats are still kept for up to 72 hours, so Gemini can respond and process feedback.
3. If you keep it on, choose an auto-delete period. Google lists 3, 18 or 36 months.
4. Open Connected Apps and turn off what you do not use, such as Messages, Phone or WhatsApp.

Disconnecting an app does not delete past Gemini activity, and deleting Gemini activity does not delete data in other Google services. Which apps work with Keep Activity off can change, so check the current page.

How to check iPhone

Review permissions

Apple's guide covers this flow.

1. Open Settings > Privacy & Security.
2. Tap Microphone, Camera, Photos, Contacts and Location Services in turn, and see which AI apps appear.
3. Turn off access you do not need.
4. For photos, choose limited access where it fits, so an app sees only the pictures you select.
5. For contacts, recent iOS versions also let you share only selected people.
6. For location, choose While Using or Never, and turn off Precise Location if the app does not need it.
7. Tap Tracking if you want to stop apps asking to track you.

Turn on App Privacy Report

App Privacy Report shows how often apps used sensitive data and which domains they contacted over the last seven days.

1. Go to Settings > Privacy & Security, then scroll down to App Privacy Report.
2. Turn it on. Data appears only after that.
3. Return in a week and read the entries for your AI apps.

Check keyboards

An AI keyboard may ask for Full Access, which allows it to send what you type elsewhere.

1. Go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Keyboards.
2. Remove any keyboard you do not use.
3. Tap a third-party keyboard and turn off Allow Full Access if it still does what you need.

Review Apple Intelligence and extensions

Menu names differ by iOS version, and iOS 27 changes how Siri is presented. On iOS 26, Apple's steps are:

1. Go to Settings > Apple Intelligence & Siri to turn it on or off. Turning it off removes the on-device models.
2. Review the ChatGPT extension there, if you have one. Apple says it asks before sending photos or files, unless you change that.
3. To block extensions, use Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions, then find Intelligence Extensions.
4. Check Apple Intelligence Report under Settings > Privacy & Security to see requests sent to Private Cloud Compute.

Check settings inside each AI app

Phone permissions only control device access. Inside each app, check:

• Whether chats are used for training, and how to opt out
• Whether memory is on, and what it holds
• Which services are connected, such as mail, calendar or drive
• Whether voice recordings are kept
• How to delete your history and your account

Connections to mail and drive live in your account, not on your phone. Removing the app from your phone does not cancel them or your subscription. Disconnect these services and delete your account inside the app first, if you are done with it.

Build a habit

• Be careful with apps that imitate a well-known assistant. Install from the official store, and check the developer's name.
• Decline a permission at first, and only grant it when a feature needs it.
• Review permissions after a major system update.
• Android may remove permissions from apps you have not used for a while. Do not rely on that for AI apps you open often.

Prycheck runs on Android and gives iPhone users a checklist, if you want a guided review.

Frequently asked questions

Can an AI app listen when I am not using it?

Check its microphone permission and set it to while using the app. Android and iPhone both show an indicator when the microphone is active. App Privacy Report and the Android dashboard help you review past use.

Is accessibility access dangerous on Android?

It is powerful and has real uses, especially for people who rely on assistive features. It lets an app read the screen and perform actions, so grant it only to apps you fully trust and need.

Does on-device AI mean nothing leaves my phone?

Not always. Some requests may go to cloud services, and features can differ by app and task. Read the feature's privacy page, and check any report your phone offers.